TR2/3/3A TR3 Rear Turn lights Versus Rear Stop Tail lights?

[oxendine]

Maybe a dumb question but need to ask it. Why is the bulb on the rear turn lamps a double filament? I understand the stop/Tail light having a double filament bulb, one for tail lights, one for brake lights. The turn lamps would seem to need only a single filament?

Donnie

 

[Andrew Mace]

Only two possibilities (assuming you're referring to the inboard L594 "beehive" lens lamps): 1. A previous owner intentionally substituted dual-filament sockets in order to have additional brake lights (wouldn't be the first person to have done so), or 2. A previous owner simply put either the wrong sockets in or used whatever he/she could find.

Unless that same PO accidentally put the single-filament lamp bases up front!?

 

[TR3driver]

I think Andy has pretty well covered the cases, assuming your rear turn lamps really are for dual filament bulbs. The only other possibility that I can think of : Someone misread the manual, and forced dual filament bulbs into single filament bases. Earlier cars (like my 56) did have dual filament turn bulbs (the other filament was the tail lights).

 

[oxendine]

All of the lights are new and came with the car when I bought it. The turn lights look like VB 8-769 model and came packaged with dual filament bases and bulbs?

 

[TR3driver]

I suppose that's another possibility; that some vendor has mistakenly supplied the wrong part. That style of lamp is very common on old British cars. I don't know offhand which ones used dual-filament holders with red lenses, but I'm sure some of them did.

Whether to keep them that way or replace them with the proper single-filament lamps is up to you. As Andy notes, I deliberately installed dual filament lamps on my 59 TR3A, and wired the dimmer filament to the brake lights (so the turn signals could still be seen when the brake lights were on). I'm not sure the result was worth the effort, but the fellow that hit me admitted that he did not have his eyes on the road (or me), so likely nothing would have helped :frown:

 

[oxendine]

Keeping them is exactly what I intend to do. I've also decided to wire them as you did. Besides I really don;t want to go through the pain of installing the finisher ring on the lamps again.